Death grunt

The death grunt (also referred to as death growl or death vocals) is a singing style most usually employed by vocalists from the death metal musical genre, but also utilised in different variations by vocalists from genres which derive from heavy metal music. Vocalists from bands which perform grindcore and hardcore music are amongst those which use the technique in a similar manner to that of death metal bands, whilst bands which perform melodic death metal, doom metal and occasionally gothic metal tend to use the technique with noticeable deviation.

Related Topics:
Death metal - Heavy metal music - Grindcore - Hardcore - Melodic death metal - Doom metal - Gothic metal

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Death grunts are low pitched, guttural and typically difficult to decipher, particularly to a listener unfamiliar with the singing style. Despite that fact, some vocalists sing in a manner such that their words are still kept intelligible - Karl Willetts (from Bolt Thrower) being an example of that. On the other hand, some vocalists render their singing completely indecipherable, such as Sylvain Houde from Kataklysm or Lord Worm from Cryptopsy. Few female singers make use of the technique, with Angela Gossow ? vocalist of Arch Enemy ? being a notable exception.

Related Topics:
Guttural - Karl Willetts - Bolt Thrower - Sylvain Houde - Kataklysm - Lord Worm - Cryptopsy - Angela Gossow - Arch Enemy

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It is difficult to pinpoint a specific individual as the inventor of the technique; the assumption that different musicians developed it gradually over time is, in a general manner, considered more plausible. The band Death (and its precursor Mantas) with its two vocalists - initially Kam Lee and subsequently Chuck Schuldiner - have been cited as influential. Moreover, the singing featured on Venom's 1981 album Welcome to Hell has influenced the development of the style, even though the album does not exhibit the death grunt itself. Necrophagia is considered by some to be one of the earliest bands to employ death growls.

Related Topics:
Death - Kam Lee - Chuck Schuldiner - Venom - 1981 - Necrophagia

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The vocalists from the British grindcore band Napalm Death - consecutively Nic Bullen, Lee Dorrian and Mark "Barney" Greenway - further developed the style in the late 1980s, adding more aggression and deeper guttural elements to it, whilst also generally speeding up delivery of the lyrics. Around the same timeframe, in the USA, Chris Reifert (from Autopsy) began making use of deep grunts combined with shrieks. Also, Chris Barnes (from Cannibal Corpse) is notable for having deepened his grunts to tones lower than those which had been recorded at the time. Some death metal bands such as Carcass and Dying Fetus have experimented with using two vocalists, alternating singing duties between lighter and heavier death growls on their songs.

Related Topics:
British - Grindcore - Napalm Death - Nic Bullen - Lee Dorrian - Mark "Barney" Greenway - 1980s - USA - Chris Reifert - Autopsy - Chris Barnes - Cannibal Corpse - Carcass - Dying Fetus

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Vocalists of doom metal bands tend to put more emphasis on adding atmospheric and emotional overtones to their death grunts. Nick Holmes (from Paradise Lost), Darren White (from Anathema) and Aaron Stainthorpe (from My Dying Bride) were the main developers of grunts within this context, in the early 1990s. Stainthorpe was one of the first to make combined use of grunts and clean singing, a technique which was further developed mainly by Mikael Åkerfeldt (from Opeth).

Related Topics:
Nick Holmes - Paradise Lost - Darren White - Anathema - Aaron Stainthorpe - My Dying Bride - Mikael Åkerfeldt - Opeth

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Funeral doom metal bands have taken a different approach to death grunts. A hoarser grunt replaces the deep guttural voice and transforms it into an almost whisper. Examples of vocalists which make use of the technique are "Matti" (from Skepticism) and John Paradiso (from Evoken).

Related Topics:
Funeral doom - Skepticism - John Paradiso - Evoken

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